Climate Change in Evanston

In late 2018, the Evanston City Council approved the Climate Action and Resilience Plan which calls for carbon neutrality by 2050, zero waste by 2050 and 100% renewable electricity by 2030 among other goals. The plan was developed by a 17-member working group appointed by Mayor Stephen Hagerty. The plan identifies critical actions that need to be taken inorder for Evanston to play its part in avoiding cataclysmic climate change as well as identifies key strategies in ensuring Evanston is prepared to deal with those climate hazards. The full plan can be found below.

Evanston Specific Climate Hazards and Impacts

Climate Hazard: An extreme climate event or condition that can harm human health, livelihoods, or natural resources. It can include abrupt changes to the climate system such as extreme precipitation, storms, droughts, and heat waves.

Climate Impact: The way that human, natural and built systems and infrastructure experience a climate change related phenomena or event. Climate Impacts include flooding infrastructure, decreased air quality and death/disease of native vegetation.

Plan Implementation

City staff will present an implementation strategy to the City's Human Services Committee in March, 2019. This implementation strategy will identify the highest priority focus areas and which initial steps the City and its partners will take to begin to make progress on the plan's goals. The implementation strategy will made public and serve as the initial guiding document for prioritizing action with the plan.